‘Of course, Brother! Oh, this will make for an even pleasanter gathering, will it not?’
Darcy sighed. ‘I wish it were so, but Miss Elizabeth Bennet, certainly, takes no pleasure from being obliged to stay here.’
Georgiana frowned. ‘But why?’
‘Because of me and our past history, I suspect.’
‘No, Fitz.’ Georgiana’s tone was surprisingly firm, and Darcy found himself waiting on her next words. ‘That is not so. You are mistaken; the lady likes you—a vast deal; of that I am quite certain.’
~o0o~
Within a half hour of returning to The Grange, Mr Bennet’s valet had organised his master’s luggage and, still refusing to be drawn over his purpose or destination, he had bidden his daughters a heartfelt farewell and departed.
Watching as the carriage turned out of the gate into the lane, Elizabeth frowned. She and her sister had assumed his initial destination would be Gracechurch Street. After all, the Gardiners were the only ones in possession of their present address, were they not?
Yet the equipage set off along the lane towards the northern turnpike.
‘Lizzy?’
Elizabeth turned about; Jane was hovering at the foot of the stairs. ‘Come; we must attend to the remainder of our packing.’
Now that the surprise of this alteration in their present circumstances had eased a little, Elizabeth was torn between her anxiety and a slowly forming humour at the situation in which they found themselves.
With a rueful smile, she crossed the hall to join her sister. ‘You recall, I am certain, the last time a parent contrived for one of us to stay in a gentleman’s home?’
Jane smiled as they began to climb the staircase. ‘This is not a contrivance, Lizzy. Papa would not scheme so.’
‘Hmm.’ Elizabeth was not so sure. ‘I wonder. In the light of Papa’s strange comment to you when Mr Wentworth proposed, I no longer know what he might do!’
Jane stopped as they reached the landing and turned to face her sister.
‘You cannot be serious? Papa knows nothing of Mr Darcy’s feelings for you; he would not anticipate such a thing, surely? As for Mr Bingley...’
Elizabeth grinned. ‘Ah yes, Mr Bingley! Pray, what had you so enthralled as you walked with him earlier?’
‘Enough, Lizzy! We must make haste, for a servant will be here with the carriage directly.’
‘You will likely have to come to my aid, Jane,’ Elizabeth opened her door. ‘My mind is in disarray, and I am quite certain I shall select all the wrong things.’
However, Elizabeth found Alice already busy in her chamber when she entered, with little left for her to decide upon.
‘Now, Miss Lizzy, you pay attention to your personal possessions, and I will take care of the rest.’ She walked across the room to the already open closet and extracted two more gowns.
Eyeing the contents of her almost full trunk, Elizabeth sighed. ‘I do not know that we have sufficient elegant attire for a stay of any duration at Pemberley.’
‘You and Miss Jane will always look the finest of young ladies. Besides, I suspect your young man will not have a care about such things.’
‘I have already told you, he is not my young man, Alice. Mr Darcy has plans of his own with regard to matrimony, and they do not include me.’
Alice straightened from where she was carefully folding a gown and fixed Elizabeth with her firm stare. ‘And there be an old saying, with which you are well familiar, miss: there is many a slip ‘twixt cup and lip.’
‘You are incorrigible!’ Laughing at the wink Alice bestowed upon her before she returned her attention to the packing trunk, Elizabeth did as she was bid. Gathering her writing case, the book she was currently reading and several other items from her dresser, she placed them in a leather satchel designed for such a purpose. Surely this would be less of an ordeal than staying at Netherfield? At least all the present guests were good company, and certainly less trying than Caroline Bingley!
Elizabeth turned to her bedside table, opening the drawer and rummaging through the contents.
‘Lizzy, have you seen Mama’s locket?’
Jane had come into the room.
‘I thought you kept it in your bedside drawer?’
‘Usually I do. I thought I might wear it for the ball.’
‘No, I have not seen it; speaking of the ball, I cannot find my dance card.’ Elizabeth turned back to delve deeper into the drawer. ‘Tis so long since it had any purpose!’
‘Let me find it for you, Miss Jane.’ Alice turned for the door, then said over her shoulder. ‘Your trunk is all but ready, Miss Lizzy. I will see to finishing your sister’s.’
Left alone, Elizabeth walked over to the still open trunk. The dress on the top was a ball gown, one she had never worn, and she reached out to touch the silky folds. Their uncle and aunt had kindly arranged for the four remaining girls to have a dress made up when staying with them during their mother’s final illness. It had been an attempt to distract them, to give them cheer during a difficult time. In the circumstances, none of them had yet had a chance to wear them.
Elizabeth walked over to study her face in the mirror on the dresser. Soft colour filled her cheeks as she recalled the moment when she and Mr Darcy had spoken of the ball. How galling would it be if he had taken her words as they sounded: an open invitation to request her hand for a set?
Would he overcome his dislike of the activity to even attend? Surely if his friend was to go, he would accompany him? Yet Mr Darcy’s other guests would also be there, would they not? How was she going to feel, witnessing his attentions to the lady he intended to wed?
The sound of carriage wheels on the gravel driveway drew her attention from such speculation, and Elizabeth hurried to the window. One of the Darcy carriages had pulled up in front of the house, and she turned her back on the window and drew in a shallow breath.
How was she going to cope, when every sight of Mr Darcy caused her insides to swirl so? Elizabeth drew in a long, steadying breath.
So be it. The most effective way of eradicating this nonsense had been neatly presented, had it not? Surely repeated exposure to his company would bring immunity to his presence?
Elizabeth tossed a pair of dress gloves into the trunk, checked she had added all she required to the satchel and went out onto the landing. Alice was already half way down the stairs, calling for Higgins, and she crossed the landing to her sister’s room.
‘The carriage is here.’
Jane looked up from fastening her boots. ‘It is a kind attention, is it not?’
Elizabeth sighed. Was she not touched by it? For all Mr Darcy may or may not feel, he had made it clear he would not see them unprotected.
‘Yes, indeed. Though with Papa gone with the carriage, our only other recourse would have been to arrive at Pemberley in the donkey cart!’
Jane laughed and got to her feet.
‘How do you truly feel about this, Lizzy?’
Elizabeth walked over to the window and looked out into the garden. She had become attached to The Grange, more so than she had realised. She turned about and leaned against the sill. ‘I am going to miss our home.’
With a smile, Jane walked over to join her sister. ‘That is not my meaning, as well you know.’
With a light shrug, Elizabeth owned the truth to her sister. ‘I have a mind that is all confusion. Whilst I am concerned about Papa and what draws him from home in such a mysterious manner, I confess my self-interest overrules it. I am a mixture of embarrassment at Mr Darcy having to take us under his protection and, for some reason I cannot explain, full of anticipation over staying at Pemberley.’
‘Dear Lizzy, it is quite understandable in the circumstances.’ Jane hugged her sister, then stood back to study her face, and Elizabeth suffered her scrutiny for a moment before beginning to smile.
‘You mistake me, Jane. My excitement stems from living in such luxury! I am a shallow creature, for all my speculation falls
upon whether or not we shall sleep between silken sheets and dine from platters made of gold!’
Jane laughed. ‘Be serious, Lizzy.’ Then, she sobered. ‘It must be difficult for Mr Darcy, especially with the guests he has due to arrive and with all there has been between you.’
This reminder of Miss Latimer was sufficient to remove the smile from Elizabeth’s face too. ‘I know. Did you not perceive his inscrutability when he and Papa were giving us the news? Though his offer is most generous, I do not believe he is entirely happy with it.’
‘Why must you persist in being so very blind, Lizzy?’
‘How so?’
‘I believe Mr Darcy’s wariness was less over his offer and more how you might receive it.’
Elizabeth stared at her sister. ‘Me?’
Jane nodded. ‘And I suspect what you said only supported his expectations.’
‘What did I say?’ Elizabeth’s brow furrowed.
‘You do not recall?’
‘I know what I felt; an instinctive fear, but for myself and—.’
‘You did not conceal it effectively. Mr Darcy, if I am not mistaken, believes you have an aversion to staying at Pemberley, and that he is the reason for it.’
Elizabeth bit her lip. ‘But I did not mean... what must he be thinking? I do not wish him to think that!’
Jane took her sister's hands in her own and squeezed them gently. ‘You like him, Lizzy, do you not?’
Elizabeth raised troubled eyes to her sister. ‘I do.’ She hesitated, then added with a rueful smile. ‘When Mr Darcy proposed to me, I accused him of saying he liked me against his will, against his reason. I now comprehend his dilemma. It is how I have been feeling since his return to Derbyshire; I believe it is why I resisted owning what I have long sensed.’ Elizabeth’s insides were doing the familiar dance accompanying every thought of the gentleman.
‘Lizzy, I think you do more than like him.’ Elizabeth held her breath as Jane paused. ‘I believe you have fallen in love with Mr Darcy.’
Chapter Forty
The afternoon was waning as Elizabeth stood at the window of her chamber at Pemberley and looked out across the parkland. It was a stunning landscape, one she had only ever seen from the grounds before. Upstairs afforded a more far-reaching outlook, from the woodland bordering the park on the right to the far-off hills flanked by the imposing outcrop of Curbar Edge.
With a rueful smile, she recalled her pleasure in walking there often. How strange to be staying in the very house she had so assiduously avoided looking at for all those months!
‘Is it to your liking, Miss Elizabeth?’
Whirling about, Elizabeth smiled as Georgiana entered the room through the adjoining door. A large dressing room linked this chamber with the one allocated to Jane, and Elizabeth walked to meet her young hostess.
‘How could it not be, Miss Darcy?’ She looked around the well appointed, elegantly furnished room. ‘It is beautiful.’
‘Oh, I am so pleased!’ Georgiana’s face lit up. ‘I would not wish you to find anything lacking, for the home of another can never quite provide the comfort of one’s own.’
Elizabeth laughed softly. ‘I do not think we shall lack for anything, Miss Darcy, especially comfort!’
Mrs Reynolds, who had personally overseen not only the removal of their trunks to their rooms but also the unpacking and careful hanging of their garments, came into the room through the same doorway.
‘Everything ought to be in order now, Miss Elizabeth. Your sister is perfectly content, and I shall leave you to Miss Georgiana’s care.’
She made towards the door, but Elizabeth hurried across the room to stall her.
‘Mrs Reynolds, I—we—appreciate so much your kindness and care. Thank you for making our transition so smooth, and for your sincere welcome.’
The housekeeper smiled warmly. ‘There now, miss. You just ensure you ask me if there is something you might need.’
As she left, Elizabeth turned back to Georgiana. ‘She is a treasure.’
Georgiana smiled widely. ‘Mrs Reynolds was here before I was born, and thus I have known her all my life. Now, I will send Hetty to you directly. She is my personal maid and very attentive.’
‘There is no need, Miss Darcy. When you grow up in a house full of sisters, you become adept at helping each other with fastenings and the dressing of hair.’
With a wistful smile, Georgiana walked towards the door. ‘I would rather have had a sister to aid me than a maid.’
Elizabeth followed her. ‘Truly, there is no need to send Hetty to us.’
Georgiana turned to face her. ‘Allow me to do this, Miss Elizabeth? It gives me great pleasure to show you attention such as this—and your sister, of course.’
‘Then on behalf of Jane and myself, I thank you.’
As soon as the door closed, Elizabeth hurried through the dressing room to her sister’s chamber.
Jane looked up from closing the drawer to an elegant cabinet. ‘I believe Miss Darcy is doing her utmost to make us feel at home.’
Elizabeth looked around Jane’s chamber and laughed. ‘Though The Grange is a lovely house, and we do not want for comfort or nice things around us, this is not entirely like home!’ She looked back to her sister. ‘But I am grateful to her for her kindness. She is sending her maid to attend us in our preparations for dinner.’
‘Then we must each select a gown to wear directly.’ They both went into the dressing room, pulling back the extensive doors concealing the closets. Their garments had all been neatly hung, but even so, they barely took up half the available space.
‘There must surely be guests who fill this, do you not think?’ Jane gestured to the remaining capacity, and Elizabeth laughed.
‘I could well imagine Lady Catherine de Bourgh, with her elaborate gowns, taking up this space and more.’ She drew in a quick breath. ‘Heavens, how I hope she does not decide to make some stay whilst we are here. Dining in her company when I stayed at Hunsford...’ Elizabeth’s voice faltered as long suppressed memories rushed upon her. Then, she drew in a quick breath. ‘It was challenge enough!’
Jane reached into the closet and withdrew one of her dresses, draping it over the gentleman’s valet stand nearby before turning to her sister.
‘We seem to have touched upon all things, Lizzy, but that which we both know preys upon your mind. Had Alice not summoned us to the carriage so directly, you know we would have spoken of this.’
Feeling heat flood her cheeks, Elizabeth delved into the closet to conceal her discomposure. ‘What shall I wear, Jane? The green one with longer sleeves, or the lemon with shorter?’
‘Do not prevaricate, Lizzy.’ Emerging with both gowns clutched to her chest, Elizabeth bit her lip as she bore her sister’s scrutiny. ‘How long have you suspected your danger?’
‘It has been coming on so gradually, I found myself in the middle before I knew I had begun.’ Elizabeth laid both dresses over the back of an obliging chair before raising troubled eyes to her sister. ‘I had been fighting against it, doing my best to suppress the inexplicable interest I had in him. To no avail.’ Sadness swept through her, causing her throat to tighten. ‘I have become deeply attached to a man who once declared his ardent admiration and love for me; and now I must stay in his home and watch him court another.’
‘Dearest Lizzy,’ the compassion upon her sister’s features did little to ease Elizabeth’s low spirits. ‘Yet, they are not engaged, as we understand it.’
‘It is merely a technicality, I am certain. Miss Darcy spoke of it as a given, of it being only a matter of time.’
Jane shook her head. ‘I believe Mr Darcy retains feelings for you yet, Lizzy. Why else would he have done what he did over arranging for the flowers? He has no need to court Papa’s good opinion, nor mine.’
Turning away, Mr Darcy’s words whispered through Elizabeth’s mind from earlier. ‘I thought only of you.’ She quickly suppressed a fleeting tendril of hope. The realisati
on of her present condition was too fresh to Elizabeth, too unsettling. She could speak of it, think on it, no longer, and summoning a determined smile, she turned back to her sister.
‘Enough of such futile speculation; let us speak of other things! What of Mr Bingley, now we once again reside under the same roof as he? Does it stir memories of staying at Netherfield? Or is your heart leaning more towards poor Mr Wentworth?’
‘Poor Mr Wentworth?’
‘He still awaits your decision, does he not? I suspect our staying here will quite disconcert him.’ Elizabeth recalled the gentleman’s hesitancy over approaching her sister. Would this reinforce his feelings that she was above him?
Jane laughed softly. ‘You always change the subject!’
Elizabeth smiled ruefully. ‘Aye, that is true. I am a poor sister, am I not? But tell me, Jane—how do you feel about all this? I saw you deep in discussion with Mr Bingley after the picnic. Do you still feel as disinterested as you were?’
To Elizabeth’s surprise, Jane’s cheeks took on a faint colour.
‘Good heavens! What is it? Do not tell me Mr Bingley has also proposed.’ The laughter on Elizabeth’s lips died as Jane met her gaze with troubled eyes.
‘He was quite open with me, Lizzy. In a way that was most unexpected.’ She sighed. ‘I thought I had long forgot the feelings I once had for him, but a short time in his company, and I sense a little of my former interest returning. Am I so weak?’
‘Of course not!’ Elizabeth studied her sister thoughtfully. ‘What did you speak of? Did he say anything of the past?’
‘A little; Mr Bingley said he never forgot me, that if it were not for his conviction of my disinterest, he would have sought me out. Moreover, he is not prepared to make the same mistake.’ Jane ‘s colour deepened. ‘He said he has avoided paying undue attention towards me for fear of making me uncomfortable, but he wished me to understand that if it was his choice, he would pay me undue attention for the rest of my life.’
‘Oh my goodness!’ Elizabeth began to laugh. ‘One cannot accuse him of being deficient in determination now!’
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